Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, arrived in New Delhi Wednesday on a three-day landmark visit.
The Crown Prince and his entourage were given a red-carpet welcome in the Indian capital by high-ranking Indian officials, including Vice President Hamid Ansari.
Reflecting growing congruence in bilateral ties, India and Saudi Arabia inked a Defense Cooperation Pact to take their strategic partnership further in areas of security on Wednesday.
The Pact was signed following talks between Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and Vice President Hamid Ansari during which a range of bilateral, regional and international issues figured.
The Defense Cooperation Pact will allow exchange of defense-related information, military training and education as well as cooperation in areas varying from hydrography and security to logistics.
Kumar, Joint Secretary (Gulf) to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said “India finds Saudi Arabia a very willing partner in terms of security and defense dialogue. Our cooperation has increased enormously. There has been regular dialogue between India and Saudi Arabia on these matters.”
Crown Prince Salman held official talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday. The Crown Prince arrived in New Delhi after wrapping up his week-long visit to Japan.
Indian Defense Minister A. K. Anthony and Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid also called on Crown Prince Salman on Thursday.
This three-day day visit of Crown Prince Salman to India is the first highest level visit after the 2006 landmark trip by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
This is Crown Prince Salman’s second visit to India. He had traveled to India in April 2010 when he was the Governor of the Riyadh Province. An official visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Riyadh in 2010 and the Riyadh Declaration signed on February 28, 2010 elevated bilateral engagement to strategic partnership status covering security, economic, defense and political areas.
Source: dna India; Arab News - Photo: AFP
Photo: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud shakes hands with India's Vice President Hamid Ansari
